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The world must build more toilets to save lives. Today's #Dailychart looks at open defecation http://t.co/p11zMWJAoxpic.twitter.com/YUYqj5xDXK — The Economist (@TheEconomist) July 17, 2014 Aashish (@pakaupolicy) did some maps for rice. They were used by the economist for its daily...Read More..

The Economist wrote a rather brilliant article on sanitation in India, quoting a whole lot of rice research and the squat survey. It also used our map, but made it much nicer (see below). We thank them for writing this...Read More..

In light of the recent New York Times article highlighting r.i.c.e.’s research on the importance of sanitation for health, quite a few people have asked me how this can be considered an emerging issue. While it may seem obvious to...Read More..

Its still chart month on rice blog, and here are some new maps. When the results of the houselisting operations of the 2011 Indian census came out, most newspapers published articles comparing mobile and toilet ownership (here is a sample)....Read More..

r.i.c.e. is a non-profit economic and demographic research organization working in India, and concentrating on child health and early-life human development. Many new readers are finding us from Gardiner Harris’s New York Times article, Poor Sanitation in India May Afflict...Read More..

Gardiner Harris' article on sanitation for the New York Times featuring tonnes of rice research has received a tremendous response. Apart from having as many as 151 comments, it also features in the list of the most emailed and the...Read More..

Poor Sanitation in India May Afflict Well-Fed Children With Malnutrition http://t.co/h7Qo9vrzGL — The New York Times (@nytimes) July 14, 2014 Btw, if you don't follow us on twitter, you should. Rice research covered by the New York Times: http://t.co/Oy2mwn9ckE— rice...Read More..

[caption id="attachment_1650" align="aligncenter" width="599"] A word cloud of the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan guidelines[/caption] Continuing with our chart month, we post a word cloud of the programme implementation guidelines of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation's (MoDWS) Nirmal Bharat...Read More..

No one book has changed my thinking as much as Omprakash Valmiki's autobiography, Jhoothan (झूठन) did. Valmiki died late last year, and when he died, I was embarrassed to realise how wrong I used to be, and felt grateful to...Read More..

For ensuring hygiene, waste management and sanitation across the nation a “Swachh Bharat Mission” will be launched. This will be our tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary to be celebrated in the year 2019. – Address to...Read More..

Here is an interesting story from SQUAT survey in Jodhpur that I would like to share today. This story has some implications for the upcoming ambitious Swatchh Bharat Mission Plan of NDA government. “Purna Ram and Ram Deen (names changed)...Read More..

Its chart month on rice blog, and we are going to post a lot of charts in the coming weeks. This post has a crude graph about what do people complain about. CGNet Swara is an award winning initiative that...Read More..

The new government came out with its first Economic Survey. The economic survey is released by the Finance Ministry every year just before the annual Budget of the Indian government (which was delayed this year because of the elections). The...Read More..

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) issued an order to all states saying that they must construct over 5.2 million toilets by August 31st, the 100th day of the new government’s term. That’s just 58...Read More..

Nikhil's fantastic article, titled "Lack of toilets is not the only reason why people defecate in the open" was published in the popular youth e-magazine Youth Ki Awaz. In the article, Nikhil discusses the reasons many people use to justify...Read More..

The recent rape case of two minor girls in Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh has called forth a need for toilet construction for women. Perhaps, there is an urgent need for toilets (for men as well as women) but more...Read More..